


Conditions of Love

by infernalstars



Series: Neil Loves Dinosaurs [15]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Autistic Neil Josten, Dino!Neil, Liam Wilds Mini Series, M/M, Minor Matt Boyd/Danielle “Dan” Wilds, Original Character(s), Trans Male Character, but it's actually abt side characters, it's about liam!! i love him, neil loves dinos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infernalstars/pseuds/infernalstars
Summary: A mini series that explores Liam Wilds (Matt and Dans kid), his life and his relationship with Henry Josten-Minyard.*Set in the Dino!Neil universe
Series: Neil Loves Dinosaurs [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872259
Comments: 5
Kudos: 99





	1. Learning

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO!!! It's been a hot minute but now you get more Liam and more Henry and I'm very excited. There sadly won't be a ton of andriel content but you'll get some Dan and Matt which will be fun! 
> 
> minor trigger warning for references to past abuse and transphobia (lmk if i need to add anything else) 
> 
> this first chapter is short and more on an introduction... the next chapter will pick up where Something Real left off.

Liam learned when he was younger about the conditions of love. He learned the hard way when he was a kid. 

A little kid that confided in his parents, unsure what these feelings meant. His screams were the only reason the neighbors knew to call protective services. Not the cops, thank god they didn’t call the cops. 

His parents lied to their face, but the bruises and blood didn’t lie. 

He bounced around between foster homes, not having any particular issues, besides not letting himself get too close with the others. He couldn’t let himself. Not while they called him Lily. 

Then he met Dan and Matt who were looking to foster a second kid. They had their biological son two years ago and giving birth had nearly killed Dan. The couple wanted a second child and adoption was the way they intended to do so. 

Liam would later learn that this was because of Dan and Matt’s friendship with the Minyard twins. Liam was surprised when they wanted to foster him, a fourteen year old boy and not a baby. Less surprised when he heard what Andrew went through. Or at least the watered down version Dan gave him.

Liam had been given a room, a phone, everything he asked for. It all felt too good to be true. Dan and Matt were the kindest people he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting and he couldn’t quite imagine them being upset or violent on account of him being trans...but the thought of telling them made him feel ill. 

In fact, one night, while watching TV with Matt, he turned to tell him. He started to say it, getting as far as to say, “Matt, I’m--” before throwing up violently all over the living room carpet. Matt assumed he’d been trying to tell him he was about to be sick. 

Then it all got to be too much shortly after he was adopted by Matt and Dan and got babysat by Andrew and Neil. Everything blew up in his face and he broke. He couldn’t take it anymore.

The drive home with Dan was quiet. 

“You’re mad,” Liam whispered, looking over at her. 

Dan looked offended, pulling the car over. She turned fully to look at her son. 

“I am not mad. I’m upset that you didn’t feel comfortable to tell us...I want you to be able to tell us anything, okay? That’s all I want. I want you to feel safe and to be happy, but I can’t provide that if you don’t talk to us.” 

Liam nods, glancing at Mason who was sleeping in the back. 

“You aren’t upset that you have two sons…” 

Dan shook her head. “Never.” 

Liam nodded. “My birth parents tried to kill me when I told them. That’s how I...that's why I ended up in the foster system.” 

“Jesus...I’m so sorry,” Dan whispered, reaching out to take his hand. “I love you. Matt and I love you, okay?” 

Liam nodded, closing his eyes against the tears. “Thank you.” 

-

Matt studied Liam, trying to decide his next words carefully. He glanced at Dan who sat next to him on the hotel bed.

Liam felt like he might be sick if Matt didn’t say something soon. 

“Do you want to go get a haircut?” Matt chose to ask. 

Liam nodded, a small smile on his face. “I’d like that.” 

“We’ll go when we get home,” Matt said, getting up to hug him. 

Liam went to bed that night in peace for the first time in years. He felt safe, felt happy. Liam hadn’t been granted much of that in his life, but he suspected it was about to become the norm.


	2. Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been in my drafts for so long ??? Sorry that I kind of forgot about this mini series but enjoy <33333

Liam sat in Henry’s driveway, tapping the steering wheel. 

He knew Henry and Neil had a hard time trusting other people, that was no secret. He wondered what sort of lecture they were giving him.

He came out a few minutes later, skipping down front steps and then to the car. He opened up the door and plopped down next him. 

He looked over at Liam and Liam felt the butterflies in his stomach. He hated it.

“Hey,” Liam said. 

Liam couldn’t help what he felt for him. Not when he looked so good so effortlessly. The blue shirt made his eyes pop. The color looked so good on him too. Maybe it was his skin tone, just a few shades lighter than Liams, maybe it was the eyes, maybe it was just him. Liam really liked that color on him.

Henry leaned over to change the radio station. He smiled at Liam, as if he didn’t know how he made his heart race. 

“Hey, where to?”

“Not to be cliche, but I thought maybe the arcade?” he suggests. 

Henry nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Liam put the car in reverse and they pulled out of the driveway. He drove them out of Neil and Andrew’s pretty little neighborhood. Liam was suddenly thankful his mom’s new job placed them in South Carolina near them. 

Henry tapped his fingers on the arm rest, humming along to the song. Liam didn’t know it but it was a good song. 

“Your dad plays tonight, doesn’t he?” 

Liam nodded. “He got benched for an injury otherwise I’d be there. Mom’s taking Mason anyway.”

Henry nodded. He was staring at him, Liam could feel it.

“Hm?”

“Is it weird calling them mom and dad?”

“You don’t call Andrew and Neil dad?” 

Henry shakes his head. “Ruby does but...I don’t know. It feels weird.”

Liam nods. He knew a good bit of his story.Henry wouldn’t say what bad things his birth mother did but had no issues listing the mountains of emotional and physical abuse of his other foster parents. It didn’t matter to Liam, really, but it made him wonder. How bad was his mother that he felt comfortable telling Liam about being physically beaten while his foster dad was in a drunken stupor? 

Liam looked over at him at a red light. “In all fairness, I never really expected them to become parents at all. I’m glad they did.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “From what I heard they were good with you when you came out.”

Liam’s face felt warm. “You heard about that?”

Henry laughs gently. “You really broke their mirror?”

He nods, taking the turn onto the main road. He still has the scars on his knuckles from punching the glass until not a single piece hung in the mirror. He tightened his grip on the wheel.

He changed lanes, glazing over his shoulder and catching Henry’s eye in the process. 

“Neil was surprised when I told him about our date,” Henry said. 

“Oh?”

“He didn’t see it coming,” Henry explains, “Andrew...well Andrew wasn’t surprised at all.”

“He doesn’t miss anything.”

Henry laughed lightly. “He doesn’t miss a single thing. Can’t get away with anything between Ruby and Andrew.” 

“Ruby?”

“Can’t get anything past her! I told her you and I were friends before you asked me out and she looked at me and went ‘okay sure. Andrew and Neil are just friends too!’” 

Henry’s laughter fills the car. 

“Smart kid. Mason on the other hand is so oblivious to the world around him…” 

Henry smiled a bit. He looked out the window. “It’s weird being so much older, isn’t it?” 

“I won’t lie, I like the cartoons he watches,” Liam admits without shame. 

Henry’s laughter fills the air again in a way that makes Liam’s heart race. Henry has that effect on him. He can’t help it. 

-

Liam pulls into the Dave and Buster’s parking lot, climbing out of the car. 

“Dave and Buster’s is kind of lame but I figured we could get some food too.” 

Henry nods. “It’s a good thing our parents play stickball, otherwise this would be a very expensive first date.” 

Liam watches as he pulls out a fancy credit card. 

“Is that yours or did you take it from Andrew and Neil?” Liam laughs. 

“Well, they’re only rule is not to kill anyone....So it’s impossible for me to really get in trouble,” Henry argues, making Liam laugh even harder. 

Henry tucks away the card and holds out his hand. Liam stares at it for a moment. “Isn’t this what you do on a first date?” 

Liam shrugged. “In South Carolina, no. With you though? Yes.” 

He takes his hand and lets Henry lead him inside the loud and crowded restaurant/arcade. Liam’s head is spinning until they’re seated. It feels like a dream, being on a date with Henry. 

He leaned back in his chair, watching Henry pick up the menu. 

Their date goes fine, they laugh and eat their food. Henry pays with the fany credit card that says Andrew Minyard on it. Liam pretended not to see it all while not quite agreeing with it. It was technically stealing. 

However, when Henry didn’t do well on Ski Ball, the obvious answer was to break open the machine and steal the tickets. Liam knew Henry was a, in the words of Dan Wilds, “trouble maker”. 

“It'll be fine,” Henry hums, pulling out a pocket knife to pry open the machine. 

Liam just stares in shock. “If you had just let me play we would have won all of that.”

Henry closes up the box with a pile of tickets in his hands. He stands up and turns around face to face with a worker. 

“What did you just do?” 

Liam can see it, the moment Henry’s heart skips a beat. Neither of them answer. 

“Do you not speak English?” she snaps at Henry. 

Henry flinches. Liam steps forward half a step, taking the tickets from Henry and handing them to the worker. 

“Ma'am, it's just a big misunderstanding. We were just leaving,” Liam said kindly. 

A trans kid and a latino. This couldn't end well. 

“I think that's best,” she said, glaring at them. 

“Actually, I won most of those fair and square,” Henry said, reaching out for the tickets. 

The lady pushes him back. “Don't touch me.”

Liam puts himself between Henry and the worker. “It's not worth it. We can just go somewhere else okay? It's not worth it.”

Henry’s eyes slowly moved from the worker to Liam. He relaxed slightly. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Actually, I'd like to talk to whoever's in charge of you. Tell them what you did.” 

Henry didn't seem mildly concerned as he pulled his phone out and passed it to the lady. “That's my dad, Andrew Minyard.”

“And your name?”

“Henry.”

She nodded. “Hello, Mr. Minyard. No, no, he's fine. I'm an employee at Dave & Buster’s and I just thought you should know that Henry thought it was acceptable to break into a game and steal some tickets.”

There was silence as she listened and her smugness fell. After a moment she handed the phone back to Henry and stormed off. 

Henry turned the speaker on. 

“Hi Andrew,” he said into the phone. 

“Dumbass,” Andrew said, sounding tired. “Just learn how to play the game better.”

Henry laughed. “I'm shit at skeeball. Sorry.”

“It's fine, Henry. Oh and next time just ask to take my credit card.” 

Henry laughed nervously. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, I'm sure you are. Neil’s gonna bite your ear off about when you get--Neil stop it, he's fine--when you get home, by the way.”

Henry just nods. “We’ll be back in a bit.” 

“Be careful.”

“Love you too,” Henry said, hanging up. 

“Did you have anywhere else in mind?” 

“We could go back to my house and watch a movie. She kind of killed the vibe.”

“Won’t your parents kill the vibe?” 

Liam knew that Dan and Matt wouldn’t leave the pair of them alone in the living room to watch a movie. 

Henry shook his head. “Andrew and Neil will let us be. Don’t worry.” 

-

When Liam finally pulled into his own driveway, he was tired but happy. He had fun with Henry, despite getting into trouble at the arcade. 

It was well worth it. 

Liam thought, for the first time in a while, that love didn't always have conditions. He couldn't think of a single condition with Henry. 

The feelings were mutual. 

Not without boundaries and respect, but free from conditions. 

And his lips still tingled from the kiss. Henry had run out after him before he could get into his car. 

He hurriedly asked for consent as he ran toward him. With his consent, he cupped his face and kissed him. 

There were no fairy tale sparks. It just felt right.


End file.
